Sunderland manager Phil Parkinson has suggested that he would like to see goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin commit his future to the club by signing a new deal to extend his stay with the Black Cats.

McLaughlin saw himself left out of the side by Parkinson during the former Bolton Wanderers manager’s first few weeks in charge of the Black Cats, with Lee Burge having been preferred in goal ahead of the 32-year-old, but the keeper has since managed to reclaim his position as the club’s first choice keeper.

The 32-year-old has been one of the Black Cats’ most important players since the turn of the year, helping Parkinson’s side pick up six wins from their last nine matches in League One to help them climb up into the play-off places and close the gap on the automatic promotion places – and the keeper has recorded back to back clean sheets in wins against Ipswich Town and Rochdale.

QUIZ: Can you name the season in which these 14 Sunderland images were taken?

Speaking to the Northern Echo ahead of Sunderland’s trip to Oxford on Saturday, Parkinson outlined his desire to see the club manage to extend McLaughlin’s deal to keep him at the Stadium of Light beyond the end of the campaign.

He said: "Jon is someone we would like to keep. The chairman and Richard Hill (head of football operations) will be working on that.

"He is performing well, but he has to keep his standards high, and when the chairman is ready, he will deal with that situation.

"Jon’s recent record puts him up there as one of the best in this division. He is calm, and has a lot of experience. At Bradford, he played in a lot of big promotion games. He played in big cup games too, and always handled the pressure well."

The verdict

It is no surprise to see Parkinson be eager to see McLaughlin commit his future to the club, with the keeper having been a real influential performer for the Black Cats during their up turn in for since the turn of the year, and he could be set to play a major role in whether they are able to achieve promotion this term.

McLaughlin would likely have been really considering his long-term future at the club when he was being left out of the side in Parkinson’s first few matches in charge of the club, but the 32-year-old will now be more likely to be wanting to stay at the Stadium of Light after reclaiming his place as the club’s number one keeper.

Given the sort of experience and quality the keeper offers, it would be a real blow for Sunderland to lose him potentially on a free transfer in the summer, which is why the club need to do all that they can within their wage structure to ensure they keep hold of him.

For now, though, the keeper will just be needing to focus on delivering the same level of performances that he has been doing throughout the last few weeks, and if he carries on performing he will have a lot of suitors in the summer if he does not end up signing a new deal.